Scummy lawyers

Wasn't the story they had boat trouble, but the boat captain thought the boat was good enough to fish close to the take off?

I believe I posted several times about potential liability of captaining, stuff like this can bring it to a screeching halt when districts around the country see this. Yes, this is WAWI told you so post.

The "Grow the sport" movement is partly to blame. They should have added boating isn't as simple and safe as some think it is all of the time.

A short lapse in respect for the water and/or mother nature will catch you a dirt nap quickly!

Yes sir, you have probably seen more of that than anyone. I captained 3 years and will never again take the chance with anyone other than my kid. Sadly it was gonna happen sooner or later. I saw more nonsense in those deals than the countless regular tourneys I have fished for 20 years. I suspect the schools will settle quickly as they will want no part of it.

Whada ya got when you find a lawyer buried up to his neck at the beach?
Not enough sand.

Agree with the "scummy lawyer" comment.
Article does not elaborate on the claim.
Hard to imagine how there is any responsibility or negligence beyond the boat captain.

While certainly sad, baffling that three fellas of those ages did not manage to get themselves out of trouble.
That dam is manned 24hrs a day with its 2 locks on a major navigation waterway. They constantly monitor the radio and phone.
The spillway portion of the dam is right next to the locks and is 500yds wide.
Cell phones, waving your orange jacket, etc.etc.
The area is also fairly well populated.
Very bad situation.

It is a very sad deal indeed. If you read the article it states the captain is the dad of one of the anglers and the lawsuit is brought on by the ex wife of the deceased man and their son. Once again it is a very sad deal no matter if it was a tournament or not.

Wonder why TVA is not included in the defendant list. Certainly a bigger contributor than the school board.
TVA has a 600yd (?) "Keep Out" zone short of the dam to help prevent these situations.
Normally, even getting barely inside that area gets some pretty swift and harsh attention.
(No need to ask me how I know.)

I carry 500k liability on boat and have a good sized umbrella policy over the top. Numbers like they are throwing around would go way beyond and get into my pocket. It's right to be careful what you sign up for.

Yup 500k plus a 1 mil umbrella, I think I'd lose it if someone came at me for 10 mil, not that I have it, but the thought of getting wiped out. People are need to realize all activity has risk, you go fishing a million things can go wrong- every man for himself.

So ultimately it was the womans ex husband who shoulders most of the responsibility here and she is sueing everyone else. What a world. Sad deal for sure. People need to use better judgement out on the water. The disappointment of missing out on a tournament is far more appealing than the disappointment of fishing my last tournament, especially if it was 100% preventable. The kids would have been very upset for sure but they would have gotten over it.

edited

I once thought about volunteering to be a captain, realized that would be a mistake when the group was disqualified because the captain helped to get a lure unstuck from the shallow rocks. No way I’m risking what I own, for trying to be helpful.

A coach at one of our local schools tried to start a team. The school board looked into it and talked to some other captains. Some of these captains told him stories about some of the dangerous incidents they had witnessed that were basically swept under the rug, school board came back with the answer absolutely not. Thinking this was a wise decision now.